determinants of customer satisfaction on service quality ... · 1.1 statement of the problem the...

22
Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013 Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms in Bangladesh: A Study on Chittagong and Dhaka Railway Platforms Belayet Hossain * Mohammad Sirajul Islam ** Abstract: The present study has been attempted to understand and examine the factors influencing the customers (passengers) satisfaction in the Bangladesh Railway Platforms. The study is exploratory in nature and used factor analysis to identify the foremost significant factors of customers’ satisfaction with service quality. The research methodology is empirical and a survey of passengers (customers) was conducted. The study found that six factors are very significant with railway platforms. These are “Behavior, security, refreshment, lighting, information and basic facilities which bring 65.945% variance explained. Theoretical implications are dawn and discussed in the paper and a model has been proposed. Keywords: Customer, Satisfaction, Service, Quality 1. Introduction Satisfaction from service is gradually evaluated in the term of functional quality and technical quality (Gronroos, 1984). Naturally, all customers do not have enough knowledge about the technical aspects of the quality. So, functional quality has become the prime factors to form perceptions of service quality since ancient time. Satisfaction means the ratio between perceived value and expected value of goods and services. Satisfaction is customer’s fulfillment response (Rust and Olivers 1994). Quality means capability of product and services to satisfy the target customers need and want as per expectation. Service quality is measured in terms of customer perception, expectations of customer satisfaction and customer’s attitude (sachdev and verma, 2004). * Dr. Belayet Hossain, Professor, Department of Marketing, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000. ** Mohammad Sirajul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Marketing, University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS), Chittagong.

Upload: others

Post on 28-Oct-2019

1 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

  • Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms in Bangladesh: A Study

    on Chittagong and Dhaka Railway Platforms

    Belayet Hossain* Mohammad Sirajul Islam**

    Abstract: The present study has been attempted to understand and examine the factors influencing the customers (passengers) satisfaction in the Bangladesh Railway Platforms. The study is exploratory in nature and used factor analysis to identify the foremost significant factors of customers’ satisfaction with service quality. The research methodology is empirical and a survey of passengers (customers) was conducted. The study found that six factors are very significant with railway platforms. These are “Behavior, security, refreshment, lighting, information and basic facilities which bring 65.945% variance explained. Theoretical implications are dawn and discussed in the paper and a model has been proposed.

    Keywords: Customer, Satisfaction, Service, Quality

    1. Introduction

    Satisfaction from service is gradually evaluated in the term of functional quality and technical quality (Gronroos, 1984). Naturally, all customers do not have enough knowledge about the technical aspects of the quality. So, functional quality has become the prime factors to form perceptions of service quality since ancient time. Satisfaction means the ratio between perceived value and expected value of goods and services. Satisfaction is customer’s fulfillment response (Rust and Olivers 1994). Quality means capability of product and services to satisfy the target customers need and want as per expectation. Service quality is measured in terms of customer perception, expectations of customer satisfaction and customer’s attitude (sachdev and verma, 2004).

    *Dr. Belayet Hossain, Professor, Department of Marketing, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000. **Mohammad Sirajul Islam, Lecturer, Department of Marketing, University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS), Chittagong.

  • 64 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Service quality is the crucial factor for any service organization to craft the difference and obtain the shortcomings in Railway passenger service. Quality changes the nature of business competition and, possibly more than any other factor, it stated how companies make products or deliver services. In the global economy quality is just the entry ticket. It is recognized that high quality service is essential for organizations that want to be successful in their business (Parasuraman et al 1988; Rust and Oliver, 1994).

    Bangladesh Railway (Bengali: বাংলােদশ েরলoেয়) (reporting mark BR) is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains the entire railway network of the country. BR is controlled by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Railway under the Ministry of Railways along with Bangladesh Railway Authority (BRA) which works for policy guidance of BR. Key features of BR are the coexistence of several gauges, Broad gauge, Metre gauge and dual gauge, and the separation of the system by the Jamuna River (Brahmaputra) into a Western and Eastern Zone of operations with only one bridge, the Bangabandhu Bridge, connecting the two zones. Bangladesh Railway covers a length of 2,855 route kilometers and employed 34,168 people. BR operates international, inter-city and suburban rail systems on its multi-gauge network. It also owns coach production facilities (Bangladesh Railway, 2012).

    In the industry context, Bangladesh railway plays monopoly position in the transport industry, majority of its passengers are illiterate/ semi educated, low/ middle income with no/ low consciousness for quality aspects of service. Rails provide them with a convenient, accessible and affordable mode of transportation. The monopoly market structure has created a typical situation where the Bangladesh Railway has no competition and affords to ignore aspects such as customers’ satisfaction, product promotion and quality of services. Now Bangladesh Railway has become a losing department due to lack of technical facilities, managerial facilities as well as dissatisfaction on the total railway services including the health and satisfaction. Very recently, many railway roads were stopped by the authority due to inadequate number of passenger’s and loosing concerns. From the experience of neighboring country, we can justify that Bangladesh railway may become lifeline in the transportation sector of Bangladesh. This study focuses on the analysis of managerial aspects of services rather than to study the technical and engineering aspects of Bangladesh railway.

    1.1 Statement of the Problem

    The service of Bangladesh Railway can be divided into three broad categories; ticketing, on-board service and facilities at platforms. Through the field study it was found that Bangladesh railway applied modernize passengers’ reservation to minimize ticket dispensing time. It is also mentionable that Bangladesh. Railway developed a

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 65

    mobiticketing system by the bilateral contracts with mobile operators. On the other hand, it is also found that average on-board and platform services of Bangladesh Railway is very much poor as per passengers demand. There is a common complained by the passengers that railway platforms have been the safe residential zone of crime. So, the passengers never feel secure with their luggages and belongings in the platform.

    BR has undertaken various studies on its operation and engineering aspects. But no effort has been undertaken to measure the platforms management which is an important part of railway system. Waiting by passengers may range from 20 min to several hours (especially Bangladeshi context, due to late running of trains and wait for a connecting train).

    There are various outlooks to explain this situation. But the present study observed that passenger’s necessities to the platform services and their suffering may be mitigated by taking the study on railway platforms and suggesting right physical evidence as per service marketing mix. Hence, the study has been attempted to determine customer’s (passengers) perceptions of satisfaction on service quality at railway platforms.

    1.2 Literature Review

    Various scholars have considered different dimensions of service quality. Gronoos (1884) considered technical, functional, and reputation quality; Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) considered interactive, physical, and corporate quality; and Hedvall and Paltschik (1989) focused on willingness and ability to serve and the physical and psychological access to the service. In conceptualizing the basic service quality model Rahaman R.K. & Rahaman Md. A (2009) explored that overall service satisfaction depend on eight distinct service quality attributes like security inside the train, environment inside the train, waiting arrangement, station information, space for moving on train, security in the station, behaviors of the staff in the station, waiting time for train. Geetika & Nandan, S. (2010) revealed that, five factors were important for determining satisfaction with railway platforms, the most important of which are refreshments, behavior, information system efficiency, basic facilities and security factors. Parasuraman et al. (1985a) identified ten key determinants of service quality as perceived by the service provider and the consumer, namely, reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding / knowing the customer, and tangibility to formulate a service quality framework, SERVQUAL. Parasuraman et al. (1988b) modified the framework to five determinants: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness, or RATER.

  • 66 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    The review of earlier work, point out that a lot of research works have been conducted the proposed subject but in a different economic and cultural status. In Bangladesh no in depth studies have been conducted on the subject. Such research gaps motivated the present researchers to undertake a study on the “Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms in Bangladesh”.

    1.3 Objectives of the study:

    The study attempts to analysis the passengers’ perceptions on the platform services of Bangladesh Railway. The basic objectives of the study are viz:

    I. To identify the important factors determining service quality of Bangladesh railway platforms that lead to customers’ satisfaction.

    II. To develop a model of customer satisfaction in platform services.

    1.4 Methodology of the study:

    The study was an exploratory in nature. Universe of the study was defined the entire population of the country and foreign nationals visiting Bangladesh. The study was mainly based on primary data, the data were collected by designed questionnaire especially likert scale ranging from least satisfied” to most Satisfied” for measuring the customer degree of response with particular variables. The questionnaire included 16 variables to measure factors influencing customers’ satisfaction in the railway platform (appendix-1). Sample of the study was two major railway platforms (Dhaka Kamlapur Station platform and Chittagong Station platform). The sample platforms are very significant platform due to platform of capital city and platform of commercial capital city of Bangladesh. Total 100 samples were surveyed, of which 50 samples from Kamlapur railway station Dhaka and another 50 samples from Chittagong railway station at the time of waiting for trains in platforms since February 20, 2012 to March 30, 2012. For analysis of the collected data, the study used a sophisticated method of statistics “Factor Analysis” (FA) using Principal axis factoring and varimax rotation analyzing the collected data under the support of SPSS 18. Finally ranking of factors have been made on the basis of factor scores. The study utilized some secondary data to understand the customers’ satisfaction on service by using literatures, research monographs and relevant articles. Collected data were tabulated by the use of sound statistical methods to derive salient finding. These were then interpreted and incorporated in this study.

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 67

    Table 1 Identification of Variables Influencing the Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platform in Bangladesh:

    Code Variables Code Variables

    V1 Seating space V9 Affordability of refreshments

    V2 Lighting V10 Quality of refreshment

    V3 Fans V11 Quantity of refreshment

    V4 Pure drinking water and sanitation

    V12 Security of self (passenger)

    V5 Clarity of announcement

    V13 Security of luggage

    V6 Accuracy of announcement

    V14 Behavior of porters

    V7 Frequency of announcement

    V15 Behavior of staff

    V8 Reservation chart display

    V16 Management of parking

    2. Finding and Analysis

    2.1 Analysis and Data Interpretation

    Nhat and Hau (2007) identified the determinants of retail service quality using factor analysis. The same tool was used by Hsu et al. (www.academic-papers.org) and Agrawal (2008) to identify determinants of customer satisfaction on Internet shopping. Rahaman R.K. & Rahaman Md. A. (2009) to identify attributes affecting the satisfaction of railway passengers. The same method was used here to identify the factors determining customer (passenger) satisfaction. Factor analysis was done to identify the factors determining

  • 68 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    passenger satisfaction on railway platforms and to test the hypothesis formulated regarding the factors determining passenger satisfaction. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 software.

    The passengers were asked to rate the 16 variables (Table 1) on a five-point scale according to their experience. The test of validity of data was examined with the help of a Kaiser-Meyer-Ohlin (KMO) measure of sample adequacy and Barlett’s test of Sphericity. The KMO statistic varies between 0 and 1. A value of 0 indicates that factor analysis is likely to be inappropriate; on the other hand 1 indicates that factor analysis should be yield distinct and reliable factor ( Kaiser ,1974) recommends accepting values greater than 0.5 as acceptable (values below this should lead you to either collect more data or rethink which variables to include). Furthermore, values between o.5 and 0.7 are mediocre; values between 0.7 and 0.8 are good, values between 0.8 and 0.9 are great and values above 0.9 are superb (Hutcheson and Sofroniou, 1999). Table 2. Kaiser-Meyer-Ohlin Measure and Bartlett’s Test

    Table 2: Kaiser-Meyer-Ohlin Measure and Bartlett’s Test

    Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .731

    Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

    Approx. Chi-Square 1041.933

    df 120

    Sig. .000

    The above given table provide the information regarding data adequacy and validate of factor analysis for the current research. For these data KMO value lies on 0.731. According to Kaiser (1974) which falls into the range of being good; so, we should be confident that factor analysis is appropriate for these data. On the other hand, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity is Chi-Square value 1041.93 with 120 degrees of freedom at the 0.05 level of significance. The Test of Sphericity showed that significant is valued perfectly because of the significance p

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 69

    Table -3 Communalities

    Variables Initial Extraction Variables Initial Extraction

    Seating space .405 .506 Affordability of

    refreshments .331 .613

    Lighting .281 .427 Quality of refreshment .441 .516

    Fans .231 .262 Quantity of refreshment .297 .245

    Pure drinking water and sanitation

    .211 .371 Security of self (passenger)

    .527 .718

    Clarity of announcement

    .327 .552 Security of luggage

    .388 .422

    Accuracy of announcement

    .384 .492 Behavior of porters

    .479 .606

    Frequency of announcement

    .257 .369 Behavior of staff

    .521 .671

    Reservation chart display

    .230 .194 Management of parking

    .239 .407

    Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring

    The above given table provided the results obtain through factor analysis. Each value under column extraction shows the percentage of similar response by the passengers against each variable. The value for security of self (passenger) showed that 71% passengers were found with similar response about this variable. It is 67% for behavior of staff and 61% for affordability of refreshments and for behavior of porter and so for others.

    When a Principal Axis Factoring used, a rough rule of thumb was to choose the number of Eigen value with greater than one. The Eigen value were (appendix-2) showed that six factors could be extracted using the rule of thumb method.

    The results from the survey were coded and entered for statistical analysis. The data obtained for the study were analyzed by using Principal Axis Factoring Rotation Method:

  • 70 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Varimax with Kaiser Normalization to identify the key factors, preferred by the respondents, also identified common dimension of variables from observed variables that have higher correlation with observed variables and seemingly unrelated but no correlation among the factors. Principal Axis Factoring with two rotated factor loading (Table -3) was performed on the survey data. Variables with a factor loading of higher than 0.5 were grouped under a factor. A factor loading is the correlation between the original variables with specific factors.

    When the original sixteen variables were analyzed by the principal axis factoring with varimax rotation the factor analysis resulted in six factors- behavior, Security, Refreshment, lighting, information, and basic facilities. The six factors were found to have Eigen values greater than 1 e.g (3.984 to 1.018). It was also seen that those six factors covered around the 65.945% of total variance of railway platform services in the sample platforms. The factor loading of the variables determining satisfaction in each factor, the Eigen value and percent of variation explained by the factors showed in the table -4

    Table- 4:- Factor Loading of Variables

    Factor Variables Factor loading

    Eigen Value

    Percent of variation explained

    Behavior towards Passengers

    Behavior of railway staff Behavior of porters Accuracy of announcements

    0.705 0.538 0.538

    3.984

    24.899

    Security Security of self (passenger) Security of luggage

    0.740 0.593

    1.914

    11.965

    Refreshment Affordability of refreshments Quality of refreshment

    0.715 0.594

    1.407

    8.794

    Lighting Lighting 0.576 1.118 6.985

    Information Clarity of announcement 0.597 1.111 6.942

    Basic facilities

    Pure drinking water and sanitation

    0.582 1.018 6.360

    Total Variance 65.945%

    Sources:- Appendix 2, 3

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 71

    Table 3 given result provides statistical evidence to support identified determinants of customer satisfaction as refreshment, security, lighting, information, basic facilities and behavioral aspect of service quality. The given table is endowed with the synopsis of factors determining the customers satisfaction in the railway platforms. The most important factor determining satisfaction on railway platforms was found to be;

    Factor 1: “Behavior toward passengers” since the Eigen value and percent of variation explained by this factor were 3.984 and 24.899, respectively. This factor consists of three variables (X15, X6, and X14) which have worked properly with factor loading (0.7050, 0.538, and 0.538), it has been found that the included variables explained the percent variation explained by this factor was 24.89% percent.

    Factor 2: “Security” this is the second most important factor since the Eigen value and percent of variation explained by this factor were 1.914 and 11.965, respectively. This factor consists of two variables (X12, X13) with factor loading (0.740, 0.593), it has been found that the included variables examine the percent variation by this factor was 11.96%.

    Factor 3: “Refreshment” this is the third factor since the Eigen value and percent of variance explained by factors were1.407 and 8.794, respectively. This factor constitute with two variables (X9, X10) with factor loading (0.715, 0.594), it has been shown that included variables explained the percentage of variance was 8.8%.

    Factor 4: “Lighting” this is the fourth factor since Eigen value and percent of variation explained by this factor were 1.118 and 6.985 respectively. This factor is a single variable X2 with factor loading 0.576; it has been found that variable explained the percent of variance was 6.98%.

    Factor 5: “Information” is the fifth factor since Eigen value and percent of variation explained by this factor were 1.111 and 6.942, respectively. This factor included single variable X5 with factor loading 0.597, it has been found that percent of variance was 6.94%

    Factor 6: “Basic facilities” this is the last factor since Eigen value and percent of variance explained by this factor were 1.018 and 6.360 respectively. This factor included variable X4 with factor loading 0.582. It has been shown that percent of variance was 6.36 %.

    Through extensive study of statistical tools factors were ranked as per score to measure the priority of the factors among the determinating factors. Table 5 showed the rank among various factors.

  • 72 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Table 5 : Factor Ranking

    Factors Mean Rank

    Factor 1 1.733 1

    Factor 2 1.580 4

    Factor 3 1.435 5

    Factor 4 1.602 3

    Factor 5 1.704 2

    Factor 6 1.092 6

    Source : Appendix 4 (Highest is First)

    The table-5 has denoted that factor 1 belongs to rank I, which suggests that Bangladesh railway should give first priority to factor 1 (Behavior toward passengers), second should be given to factor 5 (Information), third should be given to factor 4 (Lighting), then railway should give the priority to factor 2 (security) at last should give the priority to factor 3 and factor 6 (Refreshment and Basic Facility) for ensuring the customers satisfaction in the railway platforms of Bangladesh specially in sample platforms.

    2.2 Customer Satisfaction Model:

    On the basis of factor analysis, a model of customer (Passenger) satisfaction on railway platforms is proposed in the Figure 1. In the model, customer satisfaction is dependent variable and behavior towards passengers, security, refreshment, lighting, information and basic facilities are the independent variables.

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 73

    The model has been derived on the basis of statistical evidence; hence, it is validated. It can be further used and developed for similar other researches.

    3. Result and Discussion:

    The relation between overall passenger satisfaction and variables associated with service quality stated earlier through a satisfaction model. From this model it has been observed that the satisfaction of Bangladesh railway service in sample platforms were depended on six distinct service quality variables, such as behavior toward passengers, security, refreshment, lighting, information and basic facilities. These six variables covered the 65.945% variance of passenger satisfaction in the railway platforms of Bangladesh. Through statistical analysis (factor analysis SPSS 18, Principal Axis Factoring, Varimax Rotation), it was found that behavior of staffs and porters in platforms can play a significant role on the satisfaction of passengers in sample platforms. Security of passengers and luggage in the platform is another important factor for enhancing passenger satisfaction in platforms. On the other hand, refreshment facility affordable by

    Figure 1. Research Model for Determinants of Passenger Satisfaction on Railway Platform

    1. Behavior toward passengers

    2. Security

    3. Refreshment Passenger Satisfaction

    4. Lighting

    5. Information

    6. Basic facilities

  • 74 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    the passengers is another crucial factor for passenger satisfaction in the platform. By this way, information accuracy and clarity of announcement in the platforms is another justified factor for passengers’ satisfaction in the platform as well as lighting, pure drinking water and sanitation are more defensible factor for overall passengers’ satisfaction in the railway platforms of Bangladesh particularly in sample platforms.

    According to the declaration of Bangladesh Railway Citizen Charter, this is the duty of Bangladesh railway to provide different types of customers (passengers) supporting services in platform including (security, information, lighting, seating space, sanitation, pure drinking water, polite behavior, available and affordable refreshment service etc.), on board, and other specific zones where customers have the necessity of service for maintaining the fundamental rights of passengers. But at the time of field study and close observation of sample platforms at different times in a week, it has been observed that the situation is beyond the question of satisfaction to the passengers. Reasons are as follows:

    Behavior towards passengers: - In the study it has been found that significant factor for overall satisfaction of passengers in the platform of Bangladesh is affected by the offensive behavior of staffs & porters. In ticket reservation system, entrance point and sometime platform officers do not maintain minimum code of conduct of human behavior. So, railway administration should focus on this particular point for maximizing passenger satisfaction in the platform area.

    Security: Through statistical analysis it has been proved that, security is second most influencing factor for overall satisfaction in platform area. It has been observed in sample platforms, passengers feel insecure about their personal life and luggage’s in the platform area. It has been experiential that platform areas are the safe zone of addicted people, prostitute’s, criminals and other types of antisocial people. By recently it has also been made out that in the platform areas very freely sell the different types of drugs through muscular people, but railway police are immobile to protect such types of works at the platform areas. By personal interview with stakeholders it has been found that, they are to manage the police people paying a substantial amount on a monthly basis. So, for maximizing passenger satisfaction in the platform areas, railway administration (BR) should ensure maximum security of passenger’s and their luggage’s at the time of waiting, traveling and on board.

    Refreshment: It has been found that refreshment at platform is the third important factor for overall passenger satisfaction in platform. It has been observed that, in platform area there have not any organized store, and restaurant. There have a few tea stalls and departmental stores (by name only) in platform area and their service quality is very poor & unhygienic. But their service charge is very high compare to

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 75

    the stores of outside the platform. Hawkers are primarily dictating the platform business for passenger refreshment. But railway administration failed to take any punitive measures against those hawkers for ensuring quality services at the platform areas. So, railway administration (BR) should allow & give permission to those traders who are running similar types of business with reputation in other areas of the city.

    Lighting: It has been proved that lighting at platform is significant factor for passenger security in platform. It has been observed that, in the platform area; there have no sufficient lighting facilities. Passengers complained that insufficient lighting may cause of accident and boosting the security threat and criminal activities at platform areas. So, railway administration (BR) should ensure sufficient lighting in platform areas in day and night as per requirement of surface to accelerate the overall satisfaction of passengers platform service.

    Information: It is also attested that, information at platform is considerable factor for overall satisfaction to the travelling passengers. It has seen that, in sample platform there have not designed information desk for passengers help. It was noticed mismatch about announcement of train arrival and departure and announcement is not clear for poor sound system at platform areas. So, railway administration should maintain all necessary facilities to ensure accuracy and clarity of announcement at platform area to secure the overall satisfaction at platform service.

    Basic facilities: Basic facilities were testified factor for overall passenger satisfaction in platform. It is a fundamental factor for a passenger waiting time at platform. Lack of sufficient sanitation facilities and pure drinking water is a common phenomenon in the platform. By the close observation it has been found that at Chittagong railway platform only one toilet is available in female rest room, others were stopped due to lack of repairing. In both sample platforms there Lacs drinking water facility. Authority opined that, railway is taking project to facilitate the sanitation and pure drinking water for passengers at platform areas. So, railway administration should take all initiative to ensure pure drinking water and hygienic sanitation facility at railway platforms for maximizing passengers overall satisfaction.

    4. Conclusion:

    With the increase of transportation demand in this route, excessive pressure on railway service has emerged. But with increasing demand of service no effective initiative has yet been taken to improve the performance of railway service. However, in most cases the existing service quality at platform has not observed at satisfactory provision although a

  • 76 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    large amount of passengers of different income brackets have dependency on this sector. So, it needs further improvement of this service so that more passengers may attract to use platform services. The satisfaction model will be helpful to determine the overall satisfaction that is overall situation of existing rail services in different circumstances. Furthermore this will provide the guideline for further assessment, betterment and improvement process. It will provide a mean of measuring the passenger perception in terms of platform service quality which in turn will help to assess the efficiency of supply side of service.

    References

    1. CzepieI, J. A. 1990. “Service encounters and service relationships: Implications for research”, Journal of Business Research 20: 13-21.

    2. Fanseca, F., Pinto, S., & Brito, C., (2010). “Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Public Transport”, International Journal for Quality Research, Vol. 4, No. 2.

    3. Geetika & Nandan, S., (2010) “Determinants of customer Satisfaction on Service Quality: A Study of Railway Platforms in India” Journal of public Transportation, Vol 13, No 1.

    4. Kordnaiej, A & Mughari, A.M, “Evaluation and Measurement of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Customer Satisfaction in Tehran with Servqual Model Model” 11th Asia Pacific Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Conference & 14th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting of International Foundation for Production Research, Melaka, 7-10 December, 2010

    5. Lehtinen, J. R., and O. Lehtinen. 1982. Service quality: A study of quality dimensions. Unpublished working paper, Service Management Institute: Helsinki.

    6. Mahimudi, S. M., Verdineja, F., Jandoghi, G., & Mughari, M. (2010). ‘Analysis and establishment of bus rapid transit (BRT) on Customer Satisfaction in Tehran’ AfricanJournal of Business Management, Vol. 4 (12) pp 2514-2519, September-2010. http:// www.academicjournal.ogr/AJBM, ISSN 1993-8233@2010 Academic journal

    7. Malhotra, N.K., (2008). “Marketing Research an Applied Orientation” Prentic Hall of India private Limited, New Dilhi

    8. Mazzulla, G. & Eboli, L. (2006). “Quality experimental Measure for public Transport”/ Transporti Europei n. 34 (2006): 42-53

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 77

    9. Oliver, R., & De Sarbo (1988), “Response Determinants in Satisfaction Judgment”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, pp 495-507.

    10. Parasuraman, A., V. A. Zeithaml, and L. L. Berry. 1985. A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing 49 (Fall): 41-50.

    11. Parasuraman, A., V. A. Zeithaml, and L. L. Berry. 1988. SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring customer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing 64 (Spring): 12-40.

    12. Rahaman R.K. & Rahaman Md. A, “Service Quality Attributes Affecting the Satisfaction of Railway Passengers of Selective Route in Southwestern Part of Bangladesh” Theoretical and Empirical Research in Urban Management, Vol-3, No .12, August 2009.

    13. Rust, R. T., and R. C. Oliver. 1994. Service quality: Insights and managerial implications from the frontier. In Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, ed. Rust, R. T., and R. C. Oliver. London: Sage Publications.

    14. Sachdev, S. B., and Verma, H. V. 2004. Relative importance of service quality. Journalo Services Research 4(1): 93-116.

    15. www.railway.gov.bd/

  • 78 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Appendix I Statistical Descriptive

    Variable Mean Std. Deviation Analysis N

    X1 2.5462 1.0028 260

    X2 2.7808 0.931 260

    X3 2.2385 0.8814 260

    X4 1.8769 0.9301 260

    X5 2.8538 1.0735 260

    X6 2.9385 0.7885 260

    X7 2.8462 0.8696 260

    X8 2.5692 1.0091 260

    X9 2.2346 0.8759 260

    X10 2.1423 0.8869 260

    X11 2.1769 0.7856 260

    X12 2.3962 1.0438 260

    X13 2.3385 0.9137 260

    X14 2.5692 0.9621 260

    X15 2.6423 0.8956 260

    X16 3.0077 1.0134 260

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 79

    Appendix II Correlation Matrix(a)

    X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 X14 X15 X16

    Cor

    rela

    tion

    X1 1.000 0.364 0.219 -0.11 0.214 0.218 0.398 0.188 0.051 0.333 0.102 0.401 0.291 0.377 0.343 0.239

    X2 0.364 1.000 0.139 -0.08 0.219 0.208 0.182 0.142 -0.107 0.178 -0.015 0.106 0.092 0.308 0.262 0.247

    X3 0.219 0.139 1.000 -0.03 0.143 0.021 0.245 0.125 -0.018 0.159 0.106 0.371 0.23 0.153 0.187 0.223

    X4 -0.11 -0.08 -0.03 1.000 -0.064 -0.068 -0.109 0.046 0.164 0.134 0.12 0.023 -0.023 -0.223 0.077 0.132

    X5 0.214 0.219 0.143 -0.064 1.000 0.272 0.315 0.138 -0.066 -0.116 -0.23 0.228 0.236 0.174 0.182 0.157

    X6 0.218 0.208 0.021 -0.068 0.272 1.000 0.166 0.18 0.122 0.189 0.08 0.321 0.206 0.398 0.548 -0.038

    X7 0.398 0.182 0.245 -0.109 0.315 0.166 1.000 0.206 0.027 0.149 -0.005 0.216 0.144 0.16 0.172 0.098

    X8 0.188 0.142 0.125 0.046 0.138 0.18 0.206 1.000 0.163 0.259 -0.011 0.291 0.226 0.094 0.209 0.2

    X9 0.051 -0.107 -0.018 0.164 -0.066 0.122 0.027 0.163 1.000 0.374 0.383 0.139 0.007 0.13 0.166 -0.159

    X10 0.333 0.178 0.159 0.134 -0.116 0.189 0.149 0.259 0.374 1.000 0.23 0.368 0.155 0.398 0.405 -0.036

    X11 0.102 -0.015 0.106 0.12 -0.23 0.08 -0.005 -0.011 0.383 0.23 1.000 0.103 0.196 0.096 0.134 -0.002

    X12 0.401 0.106 0.371 0.023 0.228 0.321 0.216 0.291 0.139 0.368 0.103 1.000 0.523 0.451 0.528 0.099

    X13 0.291 0.092 0.23 -0.023 0.236 0.206 0.144 0.226 0.007 0.155 0.196 0.523 1.000 0.377 0.356 0.056

    X14 0.377 0.308 0.153 -0.223 0.174 0.398 0.16 0.094 0.13 0.398 0.096 0.451 0.377 1.000 0.502 -0.012

    X15 0.343 0.262 0.187 0.077 0.182 0.548 0.172 0.209 0.166 0.405 0.134 0.528 0.356 0.502 1.000 0.029

    X16 0.239 0.247 0.223 0.132 0.157 -0.038 0.098 0.2 -0.159 -0.036 -0.002 0.099 0.056 -0.012 0.029 1.000

    Sig. (1-tailed)

    X1 0 0 0.039 0 0 0 0.001 0.205 0 0.05 0 0 0 0 0

    X2 0 0.012 0.098 0 0 0.002 0.011 0.042 0.002 0.402 0.045 0.069 0 0 0

    X3 0 0.012 0.315 0.011 0.367 0 0.022 0.388 0.005 0.044 0 0 0.007 0.001 0

    X4 0.039 0.098 0.315 0.15 0.136 0.039 0.229 0.004 0.016 0.027 0.359 0.353 0 0.109 0.017

    X5 0 0 0.011 0.15 0 0 0.013 0.144 0.031 0 0 0 0.002 0.002 0.006

    X6 0 0 0.367 0.136 0 0.004 0.002 0.025 0.001 0.099 0 0 0 0 0.271

    X7 0 0.002 0 0.039 0 0.004 0 0.331 0.008 0.467 0 0.01 0.005 0.003 0.058

    X8 0.001 0.011 0.022 0.229 0.013 0.002 0 0.004 0 0.432 0 0 0.064 0 0.001

    X9 0.205 0.042 0.388 0.004 0.144 0.025 0.331 0.004 0 0 0.013 0.458 0.018 0.004 0.005

    X10 0 0.002 0.005 0.016 0.031 0.001 0.008 0 0 0 0 0.006 0 0 0.284

    X11 0.05 0.402 0.044 0.027 0 0.099 0.467 0.432 0 0 0.05 0.001 0.061 0.015 0.489

    X12 0 0.045 0 0.359 0 0 0 0 0.013 0 0.05 0 0 0 0.055

    X13 0 0.069 0 0.353 0 0 0.01 0 0.458 0.006 0.001 0 0 0 0.186

    X14 0 0 0.007 0 0.002 0 0.005 0.064 0.018 0 0.061 0 0 0 0.421

    X15 0 0 0.001 0.109 0.002 0 0.003 0 0.004 0 0.015 0 0 0 0.323

    X16 0 0 0 0.017 0.006 0.271 0.058 0.001 0.005 0.284 0.489 0.055 0.186 0.421 0.323

  • 80 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Appendix III Total Variance Explained

    Factor

    Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared

    Loadings

    Total % of Variance Cumulative

    % Total % of

    VarianceCumulative

    % Total % of

    Variance Cumulative

    %

    1 3.983834 24.898963 24.898963 3.5165896 21.978685 21.97868499 1.6897 10.560625 10.560625

    2 1.9143809 11.964881 36.863843 1.3896887 8.6855543 30.66423926 1.5773165 9.8582281 20.418853

    3 1.4070658 8.7941615 45.658005 0.8251996 5.1574972 35.8217365 1.4012723 8.7579521 29.176805

    4 1.1175949 6.9849679 52.642973 0.611605 3.822531 39.64426753 1.1112594 6.945371 36.122176

    5 1.1107798 6.9423735 59.585346 0.5462741 3.4142133 43.05848087 0.9038949 5.649343 41.771519

    6 1.0176587 6.3603666 65.945713 0.4804012 3.0025075 46.06098835 0.686315 4.289469 46.060988

    7 0.8701631 5.4385195 71.384233

    8 0.7963791 4.9773692 76.361602

    9 0.7115579 4.4472369 80.808839

    10 0.6382177 3.9888604 84.797699

    11 0.5987891 3.7424321 88.540131

    12 0.4579118 2.8619491 91.40208

    13 0.3799258 2.3745364 93.776617

    14 0.3424857 2.1405356 95.917152

    15 0.3352195 2.0951221 98.012274

    16 0.3180361 1.9877258 100

    Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 81

    Appendix IV Rotated Factor Matrix (a)

    Factor

    1 2 3 4 5 6

    X15 .705 .319 .196 .159 .045 .078

    X6 .665 .072 .058 .026 .197 -.037

    X14 .538 .316 .190 .202 .004 -.374

    X12 .342 .740 .171 .052 .145 .026

    X13 .242 .593 .040 .010 .091 -.043

    X3 -.050 .433 .055 .221 .140 .004

    X9 .111 -.056 .715 -.204 .173 .121

    X10 .266 .191 .594 .234 -.025 -.003

    X11 .014 .138 .456 -.008 -.117 .061

    X2 .269 .001 -.044 .576 .112 -.092

    X16 -.119 .173 -.148 .492 .117 .293

    X1 .174 .312 .189 .485 .267 -.190

    X5 .257 .154 -.318 .065 .597 .011

    X7 .033 .177 .080 .239 .498 -.159

    X8 .123 .207 .150 .162 .251 .156

    X4 -.019 -.009 .165 -.009 -.071 .582

    Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

    (a) Rotation converged in 10 iterations.

  • 82 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Appendix V Factors grant average

    Factors Variables Factor Loading (1)

    Mean of Factors

    (2)

    Factor loading* Meanof factor ( 1x2)

    Total AVERAGE OF FACOTRS

    Behavior towards Passengers

    X15 0.705 2.6423 1.8628215 5.1991536 1.7330512

    X6 0.665 2.9385 1.9541025

    X14 0.538 2.5692 1.3822296

    Security

    X12 0.74 2.3962 1.773188 3.1599185 1.57995925

    X13 0.593 2.3385 1.3867305

    Refreshment X9 0.715 2.2346 1.597739 2.8702652 1.4351326

    X10 0.594 2.1423 1.2725262

    Lighting X2 0.576 2.7808 1.6017408 1.6017408 1.6017408

    Information X5 0.597 2.8538 1.7037186 1.7037186 1.7037186

    Basic facilities X4 0.582 1.8769 1.0923558 1.0923558 1.0923558

    (Source: Appendix 1 and IV)

  • Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service Quality of Railway Platforms 83

    Sir/ Madam

    I am a university student. I want to collect valuable opinion on the following issues for conducting a research on a subject for meeting academic requirement. Hope your sincere cooperation in this regard.

    (Please use √ on your choosing boxes, please don’t use double√ for a single question)

    Name:-_________________________ Profession:_______________ Cell No: _______________

    1. Kamlapur rail station has sufficiency of seating space

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    2. Kamlapur rail station has enough lighting in platform

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    3. Kamlapur rail station has enough fans platform

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    4. Kamlapur rail station has sufficient pure drinking water and sanitation

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    5. Kamlapur rail station has enough clarity of announcements

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    6. Kamlapur rail station has accuracy of announcements

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    7. Kamlapur rail station has frequency of announcements

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    8. Kamlapur rail station has enough reservation chart display

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    9. Kamlapur rail station has enough affordability of refreshments

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    10. Kamlapur rail station has enough quality of refreshments

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    11. Kamlapur rail station has enough quantity of refreshments

  • 84 Journal of Business Studies, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, April 2013

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    12. Kamlapur rail station has enough security of self (Passengers)

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    13. Kamlapur rail station has enough security of luggage in platform

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    14. Behavior of porters in Kamlapur rail station is very polite

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    15. Behavior of sfaffs in Kamlapur rail station is very polite

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

    16. Kamlapur rail station has enough management of parking

    Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree